Conduit-trolley



(No Model.)

J. J. GOSGROVE, Jr.

GONDUIT TROLLBY.

Patented May 3,1892.

Wk N QR IN VENTOH UUUUUUUUUUUU UUUU lJ/TNESSES I UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

JAMES J. COSGROVE, JR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONDUIT-TROL'LEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 474,218, dated May 3,1892.

Application filed June 3, 1891. Serial No. 394,936. (No model.)

To alt whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that 1, JAMES J. CoseRovE, J r., of Philadelphia, in thecounty of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a newand Improved Electric Railway, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in electric railways, and moreespecially to improvements in a trolley mechanism for an undergroundsystem; and its object is to produce a simple form of trolley which isadapted to be used with a continuous metallic circuit and which may beeasily adjusted vertically, so that it may pass any obstruction.

To this end my invention consists in certain features of constructionand combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described andclaimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a broken side elevation, partly in section, of a carprovided with my improved trolley and showing the trolley in connectionwith the line-wire. Fig. 2 is a cross-section through the conduit. Fig.3 is an enlarged detail view, partly in section, of one of the line-wiresupports. Fig. 4 is a cross-section through a trolley-arm on the line t4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail end view of one of the slides whichsupports the trolley-arm; and Fig. 6 is a detail view of the lower endsof the trolley-arms, partly in section.

The conduit 10 is laid beneath the surface of the ground and between therails of a track, it being suitably braced and of any approved form, andmounted on the bottom of the conduit are parallel lines of supports 11,which carry the continuous wire 12, the wire being held upon the supportby insulators 13, and the wire is secured to the insulators by means ofa smaller copper wire 14, which is secured to the main wire 12 andextends, downward into an insulator, as shown in Fig. 3. The conduit hasan opening 15 through the top,

which opening is at the surface of the earth,

and through this the trolley-arms 16 extend. These arms converge attheir lower ends and their upper ends diverge and are secured to theends of the car 17, in the manner hereinafter described. The lower endsof the trolley-arms 16 are forked,and in said forked ends axles 18 aremounted in insulated bearings. The axles 18 connect the forked ends. andcarry on their outer ends the trolley-pulleys 19, which run upon themain wire 12, and thus carry the current from the wire. The inner endsof the axles 18 are protected bya casing 20. The upper ends of the arms16 terminate in heads 21, which have dovetailed recesses extendinglongitudinally through them, and these recesses are adapted to receivethe dovetail slides 22, which are secured to the car-bottom beneath theplatform by means of flanges 23 and suitable fastening-bolts. It willthus be seen that when the trolley is raised the arms may spread andwill slide on the slides 22 and when the trolley is lowered the upperends of the arms will approach each other.

The axles 18 of the trolleys are provided with wires a and a, whichextend upward through the trolley-arms 16, as shown by dotted lines inFig. 1, and the Wires carry the current to the motors 24, which areconnected with the car-axles in the ordinary way. The current will thuspass from one side of the wire 12 through a pulley 19 and axle 18, thewire a, the motors, the wire a, the opposite axle 18, and pulley 19 tothe wire 12.

The case 20, which is secured to the meeting ends of the trolley-arms,is provided with cables 25, which extend upward through the opening inthe conduit and over suitable guide-pulleys 26 and 26, and the upperends of the cables are secured to the lower endsof the screws 27,whichare heldto turn in threaded cases on the car-fenders, the screwsterminating at the top in hand-wheels 28, and by turning either of thescrews in one direction the trolley will be raised and by turning it inthe opposite direction the trolley will drop of its own weight. It willthus be seen that in case the conduit crosses a cable-conduit the mainwire 12 may be carried beneath or above the cable, and at this point themotor-man on the car may raise the trolley by turning a screw 27, sothat the trolley will pass easily over the cable, and it may then bedropped back to place on the other side of the same. The trolley maylikewise be raised when the current is to be entirely shut off from themotors, or when any obstruction is to be passed.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent 1. The combination, with an undergroundline-wire and a car carrying electric motors, of downwardly-convergingarms having sliding connections with the under side of the car, atrolley mounted in the converging ends of the said arms, connectionsbetween the trolley and the motors, and means for raising and loweringthe trolley, substantially as described.

2. The combination, With an underground line-wire and a car carryingelectric motors, of downwardly-converging arms having slidingconnections with the under side of the car, two trolley-pulleys mountedin the lower ends of the arms, connections between the pulleys and themotor, and cables connected to the converging ends of the arms forraising them, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a continuous underground line-wire and a carcarrying electric motors, of downwardly-converging arms having theirupper ends fitted to slide on ways on the under side of the car, twoaxles mounted in the lower ends of the arms, a trolley-pulley on eachaxle, a casing inclosing the inner ends of the axles, connectionsbetween the said pulleys and the motors, and cables secured to thecasing for raising the said ar1ns,substantially as herein shown anddescribed.

JAMES J. OOSGROVE, J R.

Witnesses:

JAMES MoKEowN, JAMES WOLFENDEN.

